Space fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station streaking across the sky are getting a much-needed digital tool.
NASA just released a brand new “Spot The Station” app, which may be downloaded without cost on iOS and Android devices.
The appliance improves upon the space agency’s official “Spot the Station” website, delivering added capabilities and knowledge to expand the International Space Station (ISS) tracking experience for each casual stargazers and NASA acolytes.
Here’s an outline from NASA:
“An augmented reality interface makes it easier for users to locate the station and provides options for capturing and sharing pictures and videos of their sightings in real time. With the ability of augmented reality, the app’s built-in compass will show you where the space station is — even in the event you’re on the opposite side of the globe. Users can also join for mobile notifications of upcoming viewing opportunities based on their exact location.”
The app was created by the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate and the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. It is a special branch of the Prizes, Challenges and Crowdsourcing program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “Spot the Station’s” code is open source for the general public to access, modify and customize for themselves and to supply priceless developer feedback.
“Even after 23 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station, it’s incredibly exciting to see the station once you look up at just the precise moment,” Robyn Gatens, International Space Station director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in the identical NASA statement. “The orbiting laboratory that continues to supply so many unique, tangible advantages for humanity really isn’t that far out of reach.”
“Spot the Station’s” official release comes only one month before the ISS’ twenty fifth anniversary, when the Zarya and Unity modules were united back on Dec. 6, 1998. On Nov. 2, 2000, NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev became the primary people to live aboard the station.